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54-465: Since Metropolitan Parthenios of Debar, and Veles (1907-1913) was frequently absent from his eparchy serving as a member of Holy Synod in Constantinople, it was decided that an auxiliary bishop should be appointed for administration of the eparchy. By that time, Varnava Rosić was serving as a Serbian Orthodox priest in Constantinople and he was chosen and consecrated as bishop on 10 April 1910 in

108-599: A tomos of autocephaly to Archbishop Stefan . On the same day, Archbishop Stefan stated that he only recognized autocephaly that is granted from the Ecumenical Patriarchate, in accordance, he stated, with canon law . The formal statement from the MOC released the following day explained that it viewed the document it had received from the SOC as a mere "recommendation [...] of autocephaly". On 8 June 2022,

162-666: A Declaration "for preserving the name of the Macedonian Orthodox Church – Ohrid Archbishopric." Per the document, the "change of its name, status and dignity is high treason of MOC-OA, the Macedonian people and the state of Macedonia!" In June, the church assigned dioceses to the former SOC's hierarchs, who were part of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric . The church protested against laws on gender equality and registries, whose protest

216-477: A criminal case against him. He was removed from his bishopric, arrested, and later sentenced to 18 months in prison, and had "extremely limited visitation rights". In turn, the Serbian Church denied a Macedonian delegation access to the monastery of Prohor Pčinjski , which was the usual site of Macedonian celebration of the national holiday of Ilinden (literally meaning St. Elijah Day) on 2 August and

270-550: Is in the city of Debar . During its existence, the eparchy was under administration of Bishop Joakim Jovčevski of Polog and Kumanovo. Eparchy of Debar and Kičevo existed previously (before 1920) as part of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople . After its territory was acquired by the Serbian Orthodox Church in 1920, the eparchy was abolished. In 1968, Diocese of Debar and Kičevo

324-720: The Bulgarian Orthodox Church and set up its boundaries, dioceses, property and other privileges. The Archbishopric was seated in Ohrid in the Byzantine theme of Bulgaria and was established in 1019 by lowering the rank of the autocephalous Bulgarian Patriarchate and its subjugation to the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople . In 1767 the Ohrid Archbishopric was abolished by

378-490: The Church of Greece agreed to recognize the canonicity of the MOC, but has objected to the inclusion of the term "Macedonian" in the church's title, as well as the fact that its tomos was granted by the SOC instead of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The question of whether the right to grant autocephaly remains with a respective church's Mother Church or the Ecumenical Patriarchate is part of a long-lasting and serious debate within

432-668: The Government of North Macedonia : the prime minister of North Macedonia, Dimitar Kovačevski , the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bujar Osmani , the Minister of Defence , Slavjanka Petrovska , and the Minister of Internal Affairs, Oliver Spasovski ; also present was a delegation of the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy led by its General Secretary Maximos Charakopoulos. After this liturgy, Kovačevski

486-610: The Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church requesting talks on recognition of the Macedonian Orthodox Church. The letter was signed by Archbishop Stefan Veljanovski . Among other things, the letter stated: "The Bulgarian Orthodox Church - Bulgarian Patriarchate, taking into account the unity of the Orthodox Church and the real spiritual and pastoral needs, should establish eucharistic unity with

540-588: The Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church granted autonomy to the Macedonian Orthodox Church in the then- Socialist Republic of Macedonia , as the restoration of the historic Archbishopric of Ohrid ; the MOC was united with the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) as a part of the SOC. In 1967, on the bicentennial anniversary of the abolition of the Archbishopric of Ohrid, the Macedonian Holy Synod unilaterally announced its autocephaly from

594-536: The Kingdom of Serbia was also entrusted to him. During First World War , upon the Bulgarian occupation of southern parts of Kingdom of Serbia in 1915, he had to leave his eparchy, returning after liberation in 1918. In 1920, he was elected Metropolitan of Skopje and served in that eparchy until 1930, when he became a new Serbian Patriarch . During the office of Varnava, the dioceses of Zagreb and Mukacheve

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648-764: The Macedonian Orthodox Church ( MOC ) or the Archdiocese of Ohrid ( AO ), is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in North Macedonia . The Macedonian Orthodox Church claims ecclesiastical jurisdiction over North Macedonia, and is also represented in the Macedonian diaspora . The primate of the Macedonian Orthodox Church is Stefan Veljanovski , the Metropolitan of Skopje and Archbishop of Ohrid and Macedonia . In 1959,

702-504: The Macedonian Orthodox Church . From 1018 to 1283, Eparchy of Debar and neighboring region of Kičevo were under ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Eastern Orthodox Archbishopric of Ohrid . In 1107, archbishop Theophylact of Ohrid reported that bishop of Debar had to flee because of war between Byzantines and Normans that ended with the Treaty of Devol . In 1283, Byzantine rule ended. Territories of Debar and Kičevo were incorporated into

756-621: The breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, the Serbian Patriarchate had sought to restore its control over the Macedonian Church. MOC was introduced into the Macedonian constitution on 17 November 1991. In 2001, MOC demanded a military solution to the insurgency in Macedonia . The Islamic Religious Community of Macedonia accused MOC of "promoting civil war and bloodshed." The Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric under

810-574: The "Eparchy of Ohrid and Bitola" in 1931. In 1959, Serbian Orthodox Church granted autonomy to eparchies in North Macedonia . After the failed negotiations and unilateral (and uncanonical) proclamation of autocephaly of Macedonian Orthodox Church in 1967, ecclesiastical order was disrupted. Since Republic of Macedonia proclaimed independence in 1992, Serbian Orthodox Church decided to place all eparchies in Macedonia under special administration. In 1993, auxiliary bishop Jovan Mladenović of Tetovo

864-514: The Ecumenical Patriarchate announced communion with the MOC, the Russian Orthodox Church came to the conclusion that it recognized only the canonical rights of the Serbian Orthodox Church and refused to recognize MOC's jurisdiction over North Macedonia. On 16 May, the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church released a statement that the situation of the MOC was resolved. The Holy Synod stated that full ecclesiastical autonomy

918-502: The Ecumenical Patriarchate challenged the validity of the tomos of autocephaly granted by the Serbian church and accused it of having a pro-Russian orientation. In May 2024, the Macedonian Orthodox Church rejected the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople's final conditions for its independence. It has not received any official decree for its recognition. MOC did not agree to change its name, dropping "Macedonian" from it to secure such

972-453: The Ecumenical Patriarchate explicitly refused to recognize the word "Macedonia" or any other derivative to designate the church , and stated it would use "Ohrid" to refer to it. The Holy Synod also stated it was the role of the Serbian Orthodox Church to settle the administrative issues the Serbian Church had with the MOC. The decision of the Ecumenical Patriarchate was welcomed by North Macedonia's Prime Minister, Dimitar Kovačevski . After

1026-438: The Ecumenical Patriarchate's statement, "The purpose of the visit was to examine the ecclesiastical problem of the country. The previous stages of the matter were discussed during the meeting." It was announced that the patriarch would invite both the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Macedonian Orthodox Church to a joint meeting in a bid to find a mutually acceptable solution to the country's ecclesiastical issue. In September 2020,

1080-935: The MOC was then formally recognized by the Polish Orthodox Church in October 2022, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in November 2022, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in December 2022, and the Romanian Orthodox Church and Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia in February 2023. However, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church has objected to the inclusion of "Archdiocese of Ohrid" in the MOC's name, as it understands itself as

1134-435: The Macedonian Church proclaimed its autocephaly (full administrative independence) unilaterally. Serbian Church bishops denounced the decision and condemned the clergy as schismatic. The League of Communists of Macedonia welcomed the proclamation. For all the subsequent efforts to gain recognition, the autocephaly of the Macedonian Church was not recognized by other canonical Eastern Orthodox churches, due to opposition from

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1188-778: The Orthodox world. On 10 June 2022, on a visit to Istanbul, Archbishop Stefan was handed the Patriarchal and Synodal Act confirming the canonical and liturgical unity with the Church of Constantinople. On 12 June, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Stefan concelebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Church of St. George in the Phanar . Present at this liturgy was a delegation of

1242-759: The Ottoman authorities and annexed to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. During the Bulgarian National awakening , efforts were made in Ottoman Macedonia for the restoration of a Bulgarian church in the region separate from the Greek Patriarchate, and in 1870 the Bulgarian Exarchate was created. The Christian population of the bishoprics of Skopje and Ohrid voted in 1874 overwhelmingly in favor of joining

1296-572: The Patriarchal Church of Saint George. As an auxiliary bishop serving in the Eparchy of Debar and Veles , he welcomed the liberation of that region from Turkish rule in 1912 and annexation to the Kingdom of Serbia . Metropolitan Parthenios was finally transferred to another eparchy in 1913, and bishop Varnava was left in charge not only in the Eparchy of Debar and Veles since the administration of other ecclesiastical territories annexed to

1350-555: The President of North Macedonia, Stevo Pendarovski , wrote a letter asking the Ecumenical Patriarch, asking him to recognize the MOC. On 9 May 2022, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate recognized the Macedonian Orthodox Church, its hierarchy and faithful, and established eucharistic communion with it. It also stated that it recognized the MOC's jurisdiction as being over North Macedonia . However,

1404-485: The SOC, which had split from MOC, was created in the 2000s and was led by Jovan Vraniškovski . The later chain of events turned into a vicious circle of mutual accusations and incidents involving the Serbian Orthodox Church and, partly, the Serbian government on one side, and the MOC, backed by the Macedonian government on the other. Jovan complained of a new state-backed media campaign against his church. The government denied registration to his organization, and launched

1458-730: The SOC. It applied to be part of the World Council of Churches in 1967 but Serbian patriarch German vetoed the admission. In 1981, there were 6 dioceses in Yugoslavia, one in Australia, and one in Canada; 225 parishes, 102 monasteries, around 250 priests, and 15 monks under the jurisdiction of MOC. The Catholic Church maintained ties with MOC and the latter established annual May commemorations at Saint Cyril 's tomb in Rome. Since

1512-663: The Serbian Orthodox Church has unanimously met the pleas of the Macedonian Orthodox Church and has accepted and recognized its autocephaly." During this liturgy, the primate of the MOC-OA stated he considered the Mother Church of the MOC to be the Ecumenical Patriarchate . On 5 June 2022, during a concelebration of the Divine Liturgy in Belgrade between the SOC and the MOC, Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia gave

1566-494: The Serbian Orthodox Church. The Serbian synod denounced the decision and condemned the clergy as schismatic. Thenceforth, the Macedonian Church had remained unrecognized by all mainstream Eastern Orthodox churches for 55 years. The Macedonian Orthodox Church was formally reintegrated into the mainstream Eastern Orthodox community in 2022. The Ecumenical Patriarchate accepted the MOC into communion and recognized North Macedonia as its canonical territory . The schism between

1620-498: The Serbian and Macedonian churches ended, while the MOC was restored as an autonomous part of the Serbian church according to its 1959 status. Afterwards, the Serbian Orthodox Church officially granted autocephaly to the MOC, though all autocephalous churches have not recognized this autocephaly. Following the fall of the First Bulgarian Empire , Byzantine Emperor Basil II acknowledged the autocephalous status of

1674-606: The continuation of the Archbishopric of Ohrid . In addition to the Church of Greece and the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the canonicity of the MOC was recognized by the Patriarchate of Antioch in October 2022, and the Georgian and Albanian Orthodox Churches in February 2023. The church has also concelebrated with the Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Orthodox Church in America , whose synods have not formally addressed

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1728-481: The eparchy. In 1920, entire region was officially transferred to the jurisdiction of the reunited Serbian Orthodox Church . At the same time, local eparchies were reorganized, and the Eparchy of Debar and Veles was divided, Veles and Kičevo being incorporated into Metropolitanate of Skopje , while the region of Debar was incorporated into the Eparchy of Ohrid which was later merged with the Eparchy of Bitola into

1782-607: The exarchate. The Bulgarian Exarchate became in control of most of the Macedonian region . Theodosius of Skopje attempted to restore the Ohrid Archbishopric as a separate Macedonian church in 1890. Following Vardar Macedonia 's incorporation into Serbia in 1913, several of the Bulgarian Exarchate's dioceses were forcefully taken over by the Serbian Orthodox Church . While the region was occupied by Bulgaria during World War I and World War II ,

1836-626: The invitation from the Macedonian Orthodox Church to participate in the festivities celebrating the 1000th anniversary of the establishment of the Archbishopric of Ohrid. They also declined to send a representative to the celebration. In late May 2018, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople accepted the request from MOC to examine its canonical status. On 13 January 2020, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew received North Macedonia's prime minister Oliver Spasovski and his predecessor Zoran Zaev . According to

1890-443: The issue of its canonicity or its autocephaly as of March 2023. As of March 2023, the MOC has neither concelebrated with nor has its canonicity and autocephaly been recognized by the Patriarchate of Alexandria and the Church of Cyprus . In March, MOC refused to enter into communion with Orthodox Church of Ukraine . In the same month, metropolitan Petar along with the political party Desna (right) started collecting signatures for

1944-602: The largest churches in the world). Varnava firmly resisted the introduction of legislation giving greater privileges to the Roman Catholic Church not in Yugoslavia in general, but in Serbia in particular (hence The Concordat Crisis ). He maintained that these would certainly undermine the positions of both the Serbian Orthodox Church and those of other faiths in the country. He died unexpectedly during

1998-812: The local dioceses temporarily came under the control of the Bulgarian Exarchate. The first modern assembly of Macedonian clergy was held in the village of Izdeglavje near Ohrid in 1943. It was sponsored by the High Command of the Macedonian Partisans who created a Bureau of Religious Affairs and appointed Veljo Mančevski to be the Commissioner at the Headquarters of the Partisan Detachments and be in charge of religious affairs. In October 1944, an initiative board for

2052-462: The medieval Kingdom of Serbia and placed under the jurisdiction of Serbian Orthodox Church . In 1395–1396, entire region was conquered by Ottoman Turks , and subsequently placed again under the jurisdiction of Archbishopric of Ohrid . Under Ottoman rule, the region was organized as Sanjak of Debar . In 1557, when Serbian Patriarchate of Peć was restored, Eparchy of Debar remained under ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Archbishops of Ohrid. After

2106-513: The night between July 23–24, 1937 when the Concordat legislation was carried into Parliament . The Holy Synod was also against government pro-Concordat policy, and the government was soon forced to withdraw this new legislation. It is believed that Patriarch Varnava was poisoned because of his struggle against Concordat, and his death is still unresolved. He was the great-uncle of performance artist Marina Abramović . Patriarch Varnava

2160-550: The organization of the Macedonian Orthodox Church was officially formed. In 1945, the first clergy and people's synod met and adopted a resolution for the restoration of the Ohrid Archbishopric as a Macedonian Orthodox Church . It was submitted to the Serbian Orthodox Church, which since 1919 had been the sole church in Vardar Macedonia. The resolution was rejected, but a later one, submitted in 1958 at

2214-492: The restored Ohrid Archbishopric in the face of the Macedonian Orthodox Church". On 27 November, the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian patriarchate accepted the proposal that it become Macedonia's mother church and agreed to work towards recognition of its status. The Serbian Church expressed its surprise over the Bulgarian decision to be "mother" to the Macedonian Church. On 14 May 2018, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church declined

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2268-532: The second synod, was accepted on 17 June 1959, by the Serbian Orthodox Church. Dimitrije Stojković was appointed as the first archbishop of Ohrid and Metropolitan of Macedonia under the name Dositej II (Dositheus II). In May 1966, MOC requested autocephaly from the Serbian Bishops' Council but the Council refused to forward the request to sister Orthodox churches. At the time, the Serbian church had

2322-469: The site where the First Session of ASNOM was held. Macedonian border police often denied Serbian priests entry into the country in clerical garb. On 12 November 2009, the Macedonian Orthodox Church added "Archdiocese of Ohrid" to its official name and changed its coat of arms and flag. In November 2017, Bulgarian National Television announced the content of a letter that the MOC had sent to

2376-475: The support and protection of Yugoslav politician Aleksandar Ranković , until his dismissal from all positions in July 1966. After this, MOC sent a demand to the Council for autocephaly and threatened to act unilaterally if it was not granted. The Council declined the demand on 24 May 1967. As a result, at its third synod on 17–19 July 1967, on the bicentennial anniversary of the abolition of the Archbishopric of Ohrid,

2430-420: The suppression of Serbian Patriarchate (1766) and Archbishopric of Ohrid (1767), all of their eparchies came under direct jurisdiction of Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople . Since then, Bishops of Dabar were appointed from Constantinople and they were granted the honorary title of Metropolitan. In 1873, Eparchy of Debar was merged with Eparchy of Veles into Eparchy of Debar and Veles . In 1910, during

2484-412: The tenure of metropolitan Parthenios (1907-1913), Patriarchal Syond in Constantinople appointed Serbian Archimandrite Varnava Rosić (future Serbian Patriarch) as auxiliary bishop in the eparchy, with title "Bishop of Glavinica". Ottoman rule ended in 1912, and the region was incorporated into Kingdom of Serbia . Metropolitan Parthenios left for Greece and bishop Varnava took over the administration of

2538-449: Was appointed administrator of all eparchies in North Macedonia . Next year, he was transferred to another duty and administration was given to Bishop Pahomije Gačić of Vranje . In 2005, reorganized Eparchy of Debar and Kičevo was placed under the administration of Joakim Jovčevski , Bishop of Polog and Kumanovo. During the regular session of the Council of Bishops of SOC in May 2023, it

2592-703: Was attended by people with religious symbols, Kutlesh flag and Russian flags, as well as members of the Russian motorcycle club Night Wolves . The protest was also supported by other religious communities in North Macedonia. The Platform for Gender Equality and the Network for Protection against Discrimination condemned MOC's involvement. Per North Macedonia's president Stevo Pendarovski , based on information from NATO , people from MOC's Synod cooperated with Russian secret services. Metropolitan Kyrillos of

2646-525: Was awarded Order of the White Eagle and a number of other decorations. This Montenegrin biographical article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Eparchy of Debar and Veles Eparchy of Debar and Kičevo (Епархија дебарско-кичевска) was an Eastern Orthodox eparchy (diocese) of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric , an autonomous and canonical branch of the Serbian Orthodox Church in North Macedonia . Its historical seat

2700-761: Was decided that the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric is now part of the MOC. Its bishops were given dispensation from the jurisdiction of SOC and were directed to join the MOC jurisdiction. Metropolitans of Debar and Veles (Δεβρών και Βελισσού) under jurisdiction of Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (1873-1920) Macedonian Orthodox Church Autocephaly recognized by some autocephalous Churches de jure : Autocephaly and canonicity recognized by Constantinople and 3 other autocephalous Churches: Spiritual independence recognized by Georgian Orthodox Church: Semi-Autonomous: The Macedonian Orthodox Church – Archdiocese of Ohrid ( MOC-AO ; Macedonian : Македонска православна црква – Охридска архиепископија ), or simply

2754-429: Was formed. Between 1931 and 1937, the Serbian Church consisted of 27 dioceses and a vicariate in Skadar , Albania . Church life was on the move in all regions. Many monasteries , churches and church buildings were erected, some of these being the present Patriarchate building in Belgrade , Vavedenje Monastery , etc. The construction of the edifice of the great Temple of Saint Sava was initiated in Belgrade (one of

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2808-414: Was re-established as part of the then-unrecognized Macedonian Orthodox Church . This move was not recognized by the Orthodox community. Serbian Church re-established the Eparchy of Debar and Kičevo in 2005 as part of the newly formed Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric . In 2022, the dispute between the Serbian and Macedonian churches was resolved. The whole Ohrid Archbishopric was abolished in 2023 and merged in

2862-463: Was received by the Ecumenical Patriarch in a private audience; Kovačevski thanked the Ecumenical Patriarch for his decision of recognizing the MOC, and stated the Patriarch had corrected a historical injustice by doing so. On 22 June 2022, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church established communion with the MOC. On 25 August 2022, the Russian Orthodox Church established communion with the MOC and formally recognized it as autocephalous. The autocephaly of

2916-405: Was restored to the MOC under the Patriarchate of Serbia, bringing the MOC-OA fully into communion with the mainstream Eastern Orthodox world. On 24 May 2022, the feast of saints Cyril and Methodius , during a liturgy presided by both primates of the MOC-OA and the Serbian Orthodox Church in Skopje, Patriarch Porfirije of the Serbian Church announced to the faithful that "the Holy Synod of

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